Which players are favourites to be FIFA World Cup 2026 award winners?

The FIFA World Cup concludes with multiple individual and team honours distributed to recognise outstanding performances. Beyond the main championship trophy, several awards celebrate different aspects of player and team excellence throughout the tournament.

The Golden Boot recognises the tournament's leading goalscorer, determined first by total goals, then by assists if tied, and finally by minutes played if still level. Messi and Mbappe are currently deadlocked at eight goals and three assists each, making them frontrunners for this award. Mbappe won the Golden Boot at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar with eight goals.

The Golden Ball honours the tournament's best overall player, selected by FIFA's technical study group and voted on by accredited media. Notably, this award is decided before the final match, meaning winners have sometimes come from teams that did not win the championship. Messi, at 39 years old, leads the contenders alongside Mbappe and Michael Olise, with other candidates including England's Kane and Bellingham, Erling Haaland, and Cape Verde's goalkeeper Vozinha.

The Golden Glove awards the best goalkeeper based on impact, saves, and clean sheets. Introduced in 1994, this award has frequently gone to goalkeepers from the eventual champions. This tournament has featured standout goalkeeping performances, with Cape Verde's Vozinha gaining particular attention for his saves and reportedly attracting interest from Inter Miami. Other notable goalkeepers include Orlando Gill, Diogo Costa, Gregor Kobel, and Yassine Bounou.